This paper presents a novel method for communicating environmental information in an engaging and memorable manner. Instead of traditional visual or written communication, our approach involves physical representation of data, using weight as the key element. Using food as a case study, we demonstrate the carbon footprint of food items through life-sized models that accurately reflect their actual weight. In an educational setting, students collectively discuss and estimate emissions for sample foods, followed by hands-on interaction. Each model's weight mirrors its carbon footprint, from 50 grams for half a kilo of potatoes to 13 kilograms for half a kilo of beef. Early tests show a significant "Wow!"factor, particularly for high-emission foods. This tangible experience leaves a lasting impression, potentially influencing future choices. Our approach can extend to other areas like energy. The paper concludes with design recommendations for future work.

Effectively communicating vital sustainability topics, such as personal CO2e emissions stemming from daily activities, is challenging since there is a general lack of”carbon literacy.” Despite efforts, like employing data visualizations, conveying this information in engaging and memorable ways remains difficult, often resulting in rapid forgetfulness. Our demonstration presents a pedagogical approach aimed at addressing this challenge. Through the integration of surprise elements, data physicalization, and embodied learning, we have developed two interactive mediated non-digital learning experiences focusing on CO2e emissions from food and from consumption. At the core of our pedagogical approach are physical artifacts representing CO2e emissions where the weight of the artifacts directly corresponds to the CO2e emissions they represent. By employing a structured interactive pedagogical setup involving peer discussion, hands-on manipulation of the artifacts, and subsequent explanations, we have created an engaging experience that encourages long-term learning.

Solar panels add a time component to the energy provision of households. Households equipped with solar systems will experience days and hours of abundance, during which they generate a surplus of electricity, as well as times when they need to purchase power from the grid. This creates opportunities for households to utilize more 'free' energy when it is available by shifting activities in time, but while this may be possible for some activities, other practices may be seen as non-negotiable. We report on the deployment of an in-home display installed in nine households with solar panels in the south of Sweden. We conducted two sets of interviews: one before installing the display and another four months post-installation. Our results confirm that the negotiability of a certain energy practice may vary between different households. Washing, dishwashing and charging EV were seen as negotiable by everyone, whereas cooking and hot water use were seen as non-negotiable by most, but not all, the households. The in-home display worked as expected as a trigger and provided feedback for helping shifting the negotiable practices, but not for non-negotiable and it was appreciated by the users for its simplicity.

The widespread awareness and the sense of urgency and helplessness regarding the ongoing sustainability crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss etc.) can evoke feelings of grief, sorrow, despair and anxiety. Those emotions are seldom discussed in computing or in computing education. They can have detrimental effects on the well-being of students and others, and also lead to inaction. But concern can on the other hand also be a catalyst for learning. In this paper, we present results and reflections from a research and development project in our introductory course to sustainability and ICT focusing on emotions in sustainability education. We focus on “eco-anxiety” and ask: 1) How is eco-anxiety communicated by students and teachers?, 2) In what ways do students receive support to deal with eco-anxiety? and 3) What could be done to better address eco-anxiety in computing education? We here present an analysis of how we have responded to the phenomenon of eco-anxiety, what activities have been added to the course and an evaluation of these interventions. The results are based on joint reflections that have been guided by literature, a small-scale ethnographic study as well as a course evaluation. The paper will end with recommendations for other ICT4S educators on how they can start addressing eco-anxiety in their education.

Public knowledge about the differences in greenhouse gas emissions caused by the production and transportation of different kinds of food are generally low. People with an interest in choosing food with low greenhouse gas emissions must therefore either increase this "food carbon literacy" or be provided with such information when they decide what food to buy. Research about this specific kind of food literacy is, however, scarce, lacking both well-defined terminology and interventions attempting to increase food carbon literacy. In this paper we provide a framework for future research in the area by defining "food carbon literacy", serving as a starting point for categorizing, comparing, and generalizing future research findings. Drawing on previous work on other kinds of literacies, we distinguish between (1) food carbon literacy, (2) food product carbon literacy, (3) food handling carbon literacy, and (4) financial food carbon literacy. We have furthermore developed and tested a digital behavior change intervention in the form of a digital grocery list used on mobile phones. The list works as other digital grocery shopping lists, but also displays the CO(2)e footprint of the food added to the list, thereby enabling the user to change products at the planning stage and increase their food carbon literacy. It was tested on a group of 38 people for a duration of 2 weeks. The goals of the pilot study were to investigate quantitatively whether such a tool would increase food carbon literacy, and to investigate qualitatively how such a tool could be used and designed. The results show a strong increase in food carbon literacy for food the respondents had added to their grocery lists, but also for food that had not been added to their lists, indicating a generalization of the knowledge. Finally, we provide implications for the design of such systems, based on the qualitative evaluation.

Data about food, and data about individuals’ purchases and consumption of food are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Through bonus cards, supermarkets can track exactly which products we buy, through diet apps we can track what we eat, and through blockchains and other technologies producers can track the origin and history of individual products. From a technical point of view, we are not far away from a world where all this information could be combined to one omniscient system - OmniFood. In this paper we explore current possibilities to collect data on what products we buy, how environmental and nutritional data can be mapped to these products and possibilities to track what we actually eat. Next, we present a number of prototype systems where the possibilities to use this data has been explored, and what limitations we have encountered with current implementations and available data. We end with a discussion of some services that could be possible if current technologies would be fully implemented and made available to consumers and system developers. What possibilities could such systems offer for consumers who want to eat both sustainable and healthy food? What limitations would still exist? What ethical aspects would need to be considered? The focus is on using such a system as a decision support system to support consumers in making food purchase choices that are sustainable from both environmental and health perspectives, thereby supporting the global food system to stay within sustainable limits.

Power shortages and fluctuations in electricity supply are expected to become more frequent in the future, as renewable energy increases in the electricity mix. This poses a problem in that electricity might not always be available at the time of demand for industries as well as for households. Demand flexibility in households has been brought forward as part of a solution to this problem. How to engage households in this, however, is still unclear. Actors have tried to liken demand flexibility with waste sorting and other altruistic activities with connotations of contributing to the benefit of society, rather than being an activity springing from economic motives. In this article, we use design fiction to critically explore what this analogy would mean in the context of household electricity consumption. We describe fictive user scenarios for cooking, charging the electric car, laundry & dishes and heating to draw the demand flexibility analogies to the forefront. By exemplifying and concretizing these scenarios, it becomes evident that using waste sorting as an analogy for demand flexibility is not realistic. We discuss the implications of the scenarios in relation to the current visions that inform the development of the smart grid, and the emerging services and service providers. We conclude that there is a need to challenge the current images of flexible households in the smart grid in order to design systems that support thriving within limits.

Om vi konsumenter slutar att dricka komjölk och äta ost gjord av råvaror från djurriket och i stället utnyttjar alternativen från växter så medför det mycket stora vinster för miljön. Därför behöver Sverige en ny nationell strategi som påskyndar en omställning till växtbaserade alternativ till mejeriprodukter.

A large body of research suggests a more plant-based diet, including a switch to plant-based alternatives to dairy, is needed for lowering human-induced climate change as well as land and water use. With the help of a systematic literature review, we analyzed data from 21 peer-reviewed articles about the differences in emissions and resources used between various plant-based alternatives to dairy and dairy products. Emissions included were greenhouse gases, acidifying, eutrophicating, and ozone-depleting substances, and resource use included water, energy, and land. The results are presented as the quotients of the ratios of plant-based alternatives to dairy and dairy products. The comparison shows that the plant-based dairy alternatives have lower, or much lower, impacts in almost all cases, with two exceptions: water use for almond drinks (several studies) and emissions of ozone-depleting substances for margarine (one study). There is a lack of data concerning impacts other than greenhouse gas emissions for plant-based cheese alternatives; and in general, emissions of greenhouse gases are more highly covered than other impacts. In the quest for a swift transition to a low carbon economy, however, there is already enough evidence to proceed with a dietary change involving switching dairy products to plant-based alternatives.